"Did I make the wrong choice?" - Kobe Bryant used to drive around UCLA's campus just to imagine what it's like to be in college
Kobe Bryant
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During Kobe Bryant's first two seasons in the league, he felt like he didn't get enough playing time. While young Kobe understood that's how it typically is, especially on a veteran-laden team, there were a lot of moments when Bryant was just itching to get on the court. Part of that was because he wanted to prove his value to his coach and teammates simply because his peers playing on other teams were getting opportunities he badly wanted.
"I saw my peers playing 30-35 minutes per game doing their thing, and I am sitting here glued to the bench. I was getting really pi**ed off and ticketed off, thinking I should have just gone to college. That was the hardest part," Bryant admitted in his appearance on "All the Smoke" podcast in 2020.
Bryant used to drive around UCLA
When Kobe felt unsatisfied with his performance on the court during the early years of his career, he wondered how his life would have turned out had he gone to college instead. In his documentary Muse, which premiered in 2015, Bryant shared that he sometimes spent his off days driving around the UCLA campus just to experience a small part of how the students were living.
"One of the things that I always used to do is get in my car and drive around the campus of UCLA. I'd see kids hanging out in fraternity houses walking around, I just wanted to feel that. I just wanted to feel that. Then I even wondered, f*ck, did I make the wrong choice? Did I f*ck up? I could be going to college, laughing and hanging out with these kids, having a good time and enjoying but no, here I am," Bryant shared.
Bryant jumping to the NBA at a young age paid off
Every significant career choice has its pros and cons. For Bryant, the decision to take his talents to the NBA at the age of 17, right after his senior year in high school, meant that he'd have to sacrifice college basketball (and the fun life that comes with it), but he also made a name for himself quickly in the pros.
Kobe's NBA career wouldn't have turned out the way it did if he didn't declare for the draft at the age of 17, considering the domino effect after the Lakers traded for him on draft night in 1996. Ultimately, every choice comes with multiple repercussions and for Bryant, it was one he might've regretted at first, but eventually it paid off.
